The Champion
Great sporting pub off Oxford Street.
Location: 11-12 Wells Street, Oxford Street, W1T 3PA
Description: This wooden-panelled boozer looks dated from the outside but enter and it's a shrine to sporting champions basking in super stained-glass light.
The whole gaff is a tribute to England's first bare-knuckle boxing champion James Figg. Close to this spot he ran a training amphitheatre and wooden booth here to train pupils (mostly nobility) in the arts of self defence.
Following a refit in 1954 the brewers began to paint the current racing champion into the external sign every year, a marvellous gimmick starting with the first jockey to be knighted - Sir Gordon Richards in 1954. The trend lasted into the 1970's.
A sympathetic Samuel Smith restoration in 1989 has included non-sporting icons into it's first floor lounge.
|
Great sporting pub off Oxford Street. |
Ranking This Month: 1875/3091
Pages Hit This Month: 28
Your Comments:
Other places nearby:
The Porterhouse - Covent Garden», 0.7km
The Red Lion of Soho», 0.3km
A Right Royal Bird», 2.5km
The Ten Bells», 2.7km
The Cardinal», 1.4km
The Yorkshire Grey», 1.0km
Ye Olde Red Cow», 1.6km
The Cockpit», 1.5km
The Golden Lion», 0.7km
The Cherry Tree», 7.5km
Location Pinpointed:
Open Street Maps», Google Maps»
